Dynamic report building using a heterogeneous combination of filtering criteria

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus are presented for flexibly building a dynamic report using a heterogeneous mix of dimensions, segments, and metrics. Within a report building tool a user may introduce any number of dimensions and segments at any point within a generated report. Further within the report building tool, a user may break down existing dimensions and segments within a report with nested dimensions and segments, which may be added without limits on a nesting level. Given a generated report, a user may pivot the generated report, where the pivot includes pivoting any heterogeneous combination of dimensions, segments, and metrics within the generated report defined along each axis. Further, the pivot operation maintains the relative groupings and nestings of dimensions, dimension items, segments, and metrics in going from a column to a row or from a row to a column.

BACKGROUND

Finding insights into large sets of data is a challenge under mostcircumstances. Traditional tools for generating reports from a set ofdata are limited to allowing a user to select fields and metrics of thedata and a filter by which to narrow the data set as a whole within thereport. However, traditional tools are incapable of adding unlimitedcombinations of field, filter, and metric breakdowns to reports.Further, traditional tools are incapable of nesting unlimitedheterogeneous combinations of field, filter, and metric breakdowns atany point within a generated report. While pivoting of the X- and Y-axisof a report is sometimes supported by traditional reporting tools,pivoting of a report that is composed of unlimited heterogeneouscombinations of field, filter, and metric nestings is not contemplatedby traditional reporting tools.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a report building tool is provided that dynamicallygenerates a report corresponding to dimension, segment, and metricinputs, where the dimension input may indicate a field of data, thesegment input may indicate a filter of the data, and the metric mayindicate a quantitatively measurable element of the data. Further, thedimension may correspond to one or more dimension items within the dataand the segment input may filter one or more elements of the data. Thedynamic nature of the report is reflected, in one example, in automaticupdates of a generated report as a user adds or removes dimensions,segments, and/or metrics. The dynamic report is unrestricted inflexibility regarding a nesting level and a quantity of dimensions,segments, and metrics that may be added to a report or to a portion ofthe report. Given such flexibility in a report building tool, a user maymanipulate and focus data in nearly an unlimited variety of ways.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are flowcharts of selected elements of a report buildingtool, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 1C depicts illustrations of a report and corresponding hierarchies,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 2A-2J depict illustrations of a report building tool displayingexample steps in the process of building a report, according to someembodiments.

FIGS. 3A-3E depict illustrations of several aspects of a reportgenerated by a report building tool, according to some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict illustrations of a user interface for specifyingdate parameters within a report building tool, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustration of a network environment in which datamay be collected, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts an illustration of a cloud computing environment in whichthe report building tool may be implemented, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a report building module, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 8 depicts elements of an example computer system capable ofimplementing a report building tool.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart depicting selected processing stages in pivoting ahierarchically nested set of rows into a hierarchically stacked set ofcolumns.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting selected processing stages in pivotinga hierarchically stacked set of columns into a hierarchically nested setof rows.

FIGS. 11A and 11B depict portions of a report illustrating now andcolumn hierarchies, according to some embodiments.

While the invention is described herein by way of example for severalembodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art willrecognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments ordrawings described. It should be understood that the drawings anddetailed description are not intended to limit the invention to theparticular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present invention. The headings used are fororganizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit thescope of the description. As used throughout this application, the word“may” is used in a permissive sense (meaning “having the potential to”),rather than the mandatory sense (meaning “must”). Similarly, the words“include”, “including”, and “includes” mean “including, but not limitedto.”

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Various embodiments are presented for a report building tool forgenerating a report where the report building tool allows a user toembed an unlimited number of dimensions, dimension items, segments, andmetrics to any row or column of a report. The report building toolfurther allows a user to pivot the X- and Y-axis of the report,including each of the embedded dimensions, dimension items, segments,and metrics such that the respective hierarchical structures of thedimensions, dimension items, segments, and metrics along the X- andY-axis are maintained after pivoting. The report building tool, inallowing heterogeneous combinations of dimensions, segments, andmetrics, where the heterogeneous combinations are allowable along boththe X- and Y-axis, allows a user to manipulate data in ways that are notpossible with traditional reporting tools.

The report building tool may manipulate, for example, web analyticsdata. While many of the below examples described are with regard toanalytics data, any structured data set that includes quantitativelymeasured attributes may be used by the report building tool. In thisapplication, in some embodiments, a segment is equivalent to a filter ofa set of data, a dimension is equivalent to a field of a set of data,and a metric may correspond to any element of data that may be measuredas a quantitative data value. In this application, in some embodiments,a segment, a dimension, or a dimension item may each be consideredfilters that may be applied to a data set. Further, dimensions,dimension items, segments, or metrics may be referred to as assets,assets of a report, assets of a table, assets of a row, or assets of acolumn. Dates or date ranges may also be considered assets that may beadded to a report, where a given date or date range is applied as afilter to a data set similarly to how a segment is applied. In this way,a breakdown by a date or date range may be added as a row or column in areport or the date or date range may be added to a hierarchy of assetsof an existing row or column in the report.

For example, in the web analytics realm, at least a portion of a dataset may be organized according to a city dimension. Further, a dimensionitem may be a particular city, such as Tokyo or Fresno. As anotherexample, a metric may be a measurable attribute such as page visitors,which would correspond to a numerical value equal to all page visitorsfor a given content page. As another example, a segment may serve as afilter, such as a purchasers segment, which (in the case that not everyvisitor made a purchase) would narrow the group defined by the metricpage visitors to a subset of all page visitors corresponding to thevisitors that completed a purchase.

In order for an analyst to effectively tap into the utility of theirdata, it is important for the analyst to be able to view their data in avariety of ways. The more ways an analyst is allowed to organize,filter, and view data, the better poised the analyst may be to findvaluable insights into data. Using the report building tool, due to thelack of restrictions on the combinations of dimensions, dimension items,segments, and metrics along either axis of a report, a user mayintersect any asset along the X-axis with any asset along the Y-axis. Inthe case that different metrics are specified to intersect, theintersecting cell of the report may be left blank or somehow indicatedas undefined.

Further, in some embodiments, dimensions and segments may be added to areport such that the scope of their influence only corresponds to thevisual scope of their representation within the report, without havingthe added dimensions or segments apply to the entire table. For example,in these embodiments, a dimension item may be added as a single columnwithin the report and the dimension item may exclusively apply toelements of the data set corresponding to the dimension item within thecolumn, without the dimension item applying to every column of thereport. This exclusive application of a dimension item is similarlypossible with any other filter or asset. Given a dimension or segmentcorresponding to a column, the dimension or segment may be broken downor further filtered an unlimited number of times according to additionaldimensions or segments, resulting in metric values within the columnfiltered according to each dimension and segment specified to correspondto the column.

In some embodiments, a single column within a report may correspond tomultiple segments, multiple dimensions, multiple dimension items, ormultiple combinations of segments, dimensions, or dimension items.However, in such embodiments, because a cell within the table of thereport contains a single value corresponding to a single metric, onlyone metric per column is allowed, and intersections of a particularcolumn metric and a different row metric within a report table may bedefined to be empty. If the intersecting row and column metric are thesame metric, the intersecting cell may be the metric value.

In some embodiments, a user building a report may select a dimension asa row or column instead of one or more dimension items. However, adimension may include a great number of dimension items, as in the aboveexample where the dimension is a city and the dimension items areparticular cities. In such a case, instead of creating a row or columnfor every single dimension item within the dimension, the reportbuilding tool may select, based on a configuration setting defined priorto the initiation of the current building of a report, a defaultquantity of dimension items to include in the report. For example, if auser introduces a city dimension into a row or column, then when thereport is built, the report building tool may select the top five citiescorresponding to the five greatest number of visitors, or correspondingto some other configurable default metric. The default number ofdimension items may be set to any number and may be set by a user priorto creating a report. In some embodiments, the default number ofdimension items may be displayed, however, the user may be provided witha user interface element to expand the currently displayed dimensionitems to a greater number of dimension items. In this example, a usermay click on an icon corresponding to the last displayed dimension item,where the icon may display an ellipses, or some other indication, andwhen the icon is selected, another set of cities are displayed. The usermay continuously select the icon until all dimension items aredisplayed. In this example, after each selection to display more cities,the report may be dynamically updated in response to the selection andthe report building tool may retrieve additional correspondinginformation.

In some embodiments, the structure of a row within a table of a reportmay correspond to nested levels of a heterogeneous mix of metrics,segments, dimensions, and dimension items, where each nested row isencompassed by the row above. In this way, a user may define a row atthe bottom of a hierarchically structured nesting of rows to be filteredaccording to each of the rows in the hierarchical levels above. Forexample, given elements 314 and 318-322 of FIG. 3A, a hierarchy may bedefined as Browsers (dimension 314)>Mozilla Firefox 4.0 (dimension item318)>All visitors (segment 320), where the row corresponding to AllVisitors 320 would filter a metric in one of the columns according toall visitors using browser Mozilla Firefox 4.0. In this example, eachsuccessively nested row in the hierarchy corresponds to a successivelyfiltered row satisfying each of the constraints, or filters, from thegiven row up until the top of the hierarchy. In FIG. 3A, while segments320-322 are only nested one level under dimension item 318, the reportbuilding tool does not place any limit on the number of nestingspossible or on the mix of assets nested.

In some embodiments, similar to the successive filtering correspondingto the nested hierarchical organization of a row assets, a column in areport may be stacked to provided additionally filtered results. Forexample, in FIG. 3B are three levels, 390-392, above each of the columnsin the report. Each of the levels 390-392 corresponds to an asset, inthis case, level 390 corresponds to metric 328, Custom Links Views;level 391 corresponds to segment 329, All Visits; and level 392corresponds to each of three date dimension items, May 1, 2011, May 8,2011, and May 15, 2011. In each case, the span of the title panel inwhich the asset is displayed corresponds to the scope of the asset. Forexample, the title panel for Custom Link Views metric 328 spans each ofthe three columns, and therefore each of the three columns correspond tometric values for Custom Link Views. As another example, Purchaserssegment 338 and Visitors metric 339 in FIG. 3C represent two levels ofstacked assets, and where the title panel of Visitors metric 339 spanstwo columns and the title panel of Purchasers segment 338 spans onecolumn. Therefore, in this example, Visitors metric 339 corresponds tometric values in the two rows beneath the title panel for Visitorsmetric 339 and the single column beneath the title panel for Purchaserssegment 338 correspond to the Purchasers segment 338. The reportbuilding tool places no restrictions to the spans, or scope of assets,or on the combination of assets, or on the number of levels of assets tostack.

In some embodiments, instead of the hierarchical organization describedabove in regard to elements 314 and 318-322 of FIG. 3A, where eachsuccessive row is a further refinement, or a further filtering, assetscorresponding to rows may also be stacked. As seen in FIG. 3A dimensionitem 318, Mozilla Firefox 4.0 and segment 320 each correspond to theirown row. However, in a stacked row example, segment 320 may be insertedand displayed adjacent to dimension item 318 such that they correspondto the same row. In such an example, a visual indicator may be displayedbetween the assets to indicated the stacked nature of the assets, suchas a colored vertical bar, or where the background area of the titlepanel area corresponding to the asset is displayed distinctively. Whilein the hierarchical organization discussed above, where each rowcorresponds to a single asset and is successively filtered, in thestacked row hierarchy, the same successive filtering is applied,however, only one row is occupied to correspond to the stacked rowhierarchy. To distinguish the construction of a non-stacked rowhierarchy from a stacked row hierarchy, a user may provide additionalinput, such as depressing a key on the keyboard while dragging an assetinto the table. In other cases, the report building tool may provide anicon to toggle the behavior between the different types of hierarchicalconstructions, the stacked and non-stacked row hierarchies.

In some embodiments, instead of stacking assets as described above,where a single column corresponds to multiple filters, a series ofcolumns may provide successively filtered results in a similar manner asthat provided by the successively filtered results in hierarchicallystructured rows, discussed above. For example, FIG. 3D is similar toFIG. 3C except that Visitors 339 is now the only asset corresponding tocolumn 397A. By contrast, in FIG. 3C, column 397A corresponded toVisitors 339 and Loyal Visitors segment 337. In this example, column397B of FIG. 3D corresponds to two assets, Visitors metric 339 andPurchasers segment 338, or visitors having made a purchase. In this way,a user may see, within the visual grouping under the panel title bar forVisitors metric 339, a first column corresponding to all visitors and ina next column the user may see the application of a filter, Purchaserssegment 338. The result is a visual grouping of columns that provides auser with successively refinements, or successive filters, allowing auser to see the results from each successive filter. The example mayextend to any number of columns, where each successive column is theresult of the data set as filtered according to the filter correspondingto the top of the column in addition to each filter up until thebeginning of the visual grouping of columns. In some embodiments, a usermay collapse successively filtered columns into stacked columns. Forexample, a user may select icon 398 to collapse column 397B into column397A, resulting in a single column corresponding to two assets, Visitorsmetric 339 and Purchasers segment 338. In some cases, the collapse maybe all at once, or incrementally through successive clicks of a collapseicon. Similarly, a single column corresponding to a stacking of multipleassets may be divided into multiple, successively filtered columns.

As noted above, a generated report may be dynamic in the sense that thereport may be continuously and seamlessly modified and updated throughthe addition of new assets or through the reorganization of existingassets. For example, given a generated report such as the report in FIG.3A, an analyst may see a row 318 corresponding to “Mozilla™ Firefox™4.0” with a filtering segment 321 corresponding to “First TimeVisitors”, and given this report the analyst may want to further refinethe results to see how many Mozilla™ Firefox™ 4.0 first time visitorswere also purchasers. To do this, the analyst simply needs to drag a“PURCHASERS” segment from segments panel 305 on top of segment 321, andthe result is the additional of a hierarchical level and correspondingrow with the desired slice of the analytics data set. The addition ofthe filtered data is added to the report dynamically in that the updateoccurs in response to the additional segment and the report is updatedincrementally without having to generate an entirely new report.

In some embodiments, the report building tool may be implemented withina stand-alone application running on a client system accessing a dataset locally or in communication over a network with a remote server. Anexample of a client/server architecture may be seen within FIG. 5 andthe corresponding discussion below. In other embodiments, the reportbuilding tool may be implemented through a plugin installed into anetwork-enabled application, such as a web browser accessing informationlocally or in communication over a network with an analytics server, orsome other type of system hosting a data set to be analyzed. In otherembodiments, a network-enabled application may request a page from aserver where the page is embedded with the report building tool that isinvoked from the network-enabled application. In this way, anetwork-enabled application may be modified to run the report buildingtool. Given that so many elements of the report building tool may beoperated through drag and drop user interface interactions, anetwork-enabled application on a mobile device with or without atouch-sensitive screen may be modified to execute the report buildingtool. In other embodiments, such as the embodiment described below inregard to FIG. 6, the report building tool may be implemented within acloud computing environment. Other methods for accessing data sets arepossible, and so long as a data set can be accessed, the disclosedreport building tool may operate successfully.

In the following detailed description, numerous details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However,it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the claimedsubject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, methods, apparatus or systems that would be known by one ofordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not to obscureclaimed subject matter.

Some portions of the detailed description which follow are presented interms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binarydigital signals stored within a memory of a specific apparatus orspecial purpose computing device or platform. In the context of thisparticular specification, the term specific apparatus or the likeincludes a general purpose computer once it is programmed to performparticular functions pursuant to instructions from program software.Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the signal processing orrelated arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art. An algorithm is here, and is generally, considered to be aself-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processingleading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processinginvolve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically,although not necessarily, such quantities may take the form ofelectrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signalsas bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,numerals or the like. It should be understood, however, that all ofthese or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physicalquantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically statedotherwise, as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciatedthat throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as“processing”, “computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, or the likerefer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a specialpurpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computingdevice. In the context of this specification, therefore, a specialpurpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic computingdevice is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typicallyrepresented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities withinmemories, registers, or other information storage devices, transmissiondevices, or display devices of the special purpose computer or similarspecial purpose electronic computing device.

Report Building Module

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a Report Building Module 700. Asnoted above, the Report Building Module 700 may be implemented in avariety of different embodiments, including a stand-alone application.

In some embodiments, User Interface Module 712 may provide, throughOutput 720 a plurality of filter criteria such as dimensions, dimensionitems, and segments, in addition to providing a plurality of metrics,providing options to select a data set, and providing options forbuilding a table. In some embodiments, Data Set Analyzer 714 may analyzea given data set to identify the structure of the data set, such ascomponent fields and metrics, or through an analysis of metadatacorresponding to the data set in order to determine the plurality offilter criteria and metrics to provide the user for building a report.

Through User Interface Module 712 a user may specify the selection ofone or more filter criteria from the plurality of filter criteria. Theuser may further specify one or more measurable attributes, or metrics,of the data set. Given at least a selection of a metric and a filtercriterion such as a dimension, dimension item, or segment, a user maybuild a rudimentary report. For example, after selecting filter criteriaand a metric, the user may select a report building icon in the reportbuilding tool user interface, and in response, Control Module 704 mayinvoke Analytics Analyzer Module 706 and provide and filter criteria andmetric parameters. Analytics Analyzer Module 706 may then apply thefilter criteria to obtain the appropriate results for the metrics fromthe data set.

Upon Analytics Analyzer Module 706 making a determination of theappropriate results, Table Building Module 708 may generate acorresponding table to display to the user as Output 720.

Given a report displayed within the report building tool user interface,the user may choose to invoke the table pivoting option to pivot theassets along the X- and Y-axis. In response to Control Module 704receiving the indication to pivot the generated table, Pivot Module 710may perform the analysis of the table to convert hierarchicallyorganized assets along the Y-axis into stacked assets or hierarchicallyorganized assets along the X-axis. In some embodiments, Pivot Module 710may take hierarchically organized assets, such as those displayed inelements 318-322 of FIG. 3A, and create a similar hierarchicalorganization along the Y-axis. Whether Pivot Module 710 convertshierarchically organized assets into stacked assets or whether PivotModule 710 converts hierarchically organized row assets intohierarchically organized column assets may be determined by the type ofpivot selected or through a default setting defined prior to the pivotoperation.

Performance of a pivot operation by Pivot Module 710 may also includedetermining visual aspects of how hierarchically organized assets alongthe Y-axis are to be displayed on the X-axis. Conversely, the PivotModule 710 may also perform a pivot operation that includes determininghow the visually organized assets along the X-axis are to be displayedin a hierarchical visual presentation for the Y-axis.

Upon completion of a pivot operation, Pivot Module 710 may provide thepivoted table as Output 720.

As evident in the above discussion, during different phases ofexecution, Report Building Module 700 may receive input 702 indicatingparticular information that is dependent on the stage of building areport. For example, during the build of an initial report, input 702may include a specification of a heterogeneous combination ofdimensions, dimension items, segments, and metrics. As another example,during a dynamic modification of an already generated report, input 702may include a specification of assets along with information regardingpositional information with respect to the user interface display of thereport in order to correctly determine where in the table new assets areto be introduced, such as hierarchical information or row or columninformation.

Example Embodiment: Report Building Tool

FIG. 1A illustrates a flowchart highlighting example processing stagesthat may be present in an embodiment of a report building tool, wheresome of the processing stages correspond to the specification orgeneration of a report.

In this example, a user interface is provided for specifying a report onnetwork site analytics data, as reflected in stage 102. Further,providing the user interface includes, (a) providing a user interfaceelement for specifying one or more dimensions of the network siteanalytics data, (b) providing a user interface element for specifyingone or more metrics of the network site analytics data, and (c)providing a user interface element for specifying one or more segmentsfor filtering the network site analytics data, as reflected in substages 102A-102C.

The user interface elements for specifying dimensions, dimension items,segments, or metrics may pertain to different methods for building areport. In some cases, a user may add assets to a report builderinterface, such as report builder interface 224 in FIG. 2B, with builderinterface elements 224, 226, 228, and 240.

In other cases, a user may drag and drop assets from an area of the userinterface where the assets is displayed onto a row or column of analready displayed report such that when the asset is dropped onto thereport, the hierarchy defining the report is adjusted to accommodate theasset at the particular nesting corresponding to the location where theasset is dropped. For example, in FIG. 2F, metric 258, Single PageVisits, may be dragged from where Single Page Visits is displayed withinthe user interface, and dropped into the first column position indicatedby the addition of the Single Page Visits 260 column in report 246. Inone example, a user may click on Single Page Visits 258, and whilemaintaining the click, the user may drag the mouse the mouse such thatthe cursor is adjacent and to the left of the first column (defined bythe Page Views metric and the Non-Purchasers segment), and once in thisposition, when the click is released or ended, Single Page Visits 260becomes the new first column, and each existing column moves over by onecolumn.

In this example, the user interface may allow specification of one ormore metrics and one or more segments in a hierarchy in order to definerows or columns of the report for one or more dimensions of the networksite analytics data, as indicated in element 102D. Further, each uniquepath through the hierarchy may define a different row or column, asindicated in element 102E. The user interface may further allow alocation of a segment in the hierarchy to be changed to modify thedefinition of one or more columns or one or more rows of the report tobe generated, as indicated in element 102F.

In FIG. 1C, for example, a report 132 may be defined according to acombination of assets that may be represented according to hierarchies142 and 144. Report 132 has a similar hierarchical structure as report246 in FIG. 2E, where Metric M-1 132 d corresponds to metric Page Views210, Metric M-2 132 g corresponds to metric Visits 248, Segment S-1 132e corresponds to segment Non-Purchasers 250, Segment S-2 132 fcorresponds to segment Purchasers 252, Dimension 132 a corresponds todimension Page 208, Dimension Item DI-1 132 b corresponds to dimensionitem Home Page 212, and value v1:1 corresponds to report value 268, andwhere the remaining report values similarly correspond.

Further, report value v1:1 132 j in report 132 may be a value fromnetwork site analytics data received from an analytics server, such thatvalue v1:1 132 j is a metric that quantizes an aspect of the networksite analytics data across one or more dimensions of the network siteanalytics data, and specifically, in this example, report value v1:1 132j quantizes page views of the home page for non-purchasers who visitedthe web site.

As noted above, report 132 correspond to hierarchies 142 and 144. Ingeneral, the number of hierarchies that correspond to a given report maycorrespond to the minimum set of assets that span, specify, or definethe entire report. In this case, Metric M-1 132 d spans columns 1 and 2and Metric M-2 132 e spans columns 3 and 4, which are all the columns inthe report and therefore assets Metric M-1 132 d and Metric M-2 132 emay be considered the minimum set of assets that span the entire report.

As seen in hierarchy 142, report value v1:1 132 j corresponds to a pathalong nodes 132 d, 132 e, 132 b, and 132 j, which correspond to MetricM-1, Segment S-1, Dimension Item DI-1, and report value v1:1, whichcorrespond to page views, non-purchasers, home page, and a report value,respectively. Therefore, as noted above in regard to report value v1:1132 j displayed within report 132, value v1:1 132 j within hierarchy 142corresponds to a number of page views of the home page fornon-purchasers who visited the web site. Similarly, each leaf node inhierarchy 142 may correspond to each of the values within the cells ofthe report within columns 1 and 2, and each leaf node in hierarchy 144may correspond to each of the values within the cells of the reportwithin columns 3 and 4. In this way, each leaf node in each hierarchymay correspond to a single cell within a corresponding report. Further,each unique path through each of the hierarchies defines a uniquecombination of assets, and where the intersection of the assets producesa particular report value. Each unique path through each of thehierarchies also defines a different report value within the report. Forexample, unique path M-1, S-1, DI-1, v1:1 in hierarchy 142 correspondsto the cell containing report value v1:1 132 j in report 132. Similarly,every unique path in hierarchies 142 and 144 corresponds to arespective, unique cell or report value within report 132.

Further, as discussed above, a report may have the property that a givenasset may apply to less than an entire report, and this property maycorrespond to the scope of a given asset, where metric M-1 132 d in FIG.1C, which applies to visually spans columns 1 and 2, but does not applyto or visually span columns 3 and 4. The property of an asset applyingto less than an entire report may also be determined from the structureof the one or more hierarchies for the report. For example, segment S-1132 e applies to column 1 and segment S-2 132 f applies to column 2, andthis corresponds to the two branches from metric M-1 in hierarchy 142.In other words, if each filter applied to the entire report, there wouldbe only one hierarchy and there would be no branches. Therefore,according to hierarchies 142 and 144, when any given segment or asset isrearranged in the report, either through the report builder or through adrag and drop operation, the corresponding hierarchy is changed to matchthe new arrangement of the assets in the report. Further, the rearrangedsegment or asset in the report and the corresponding update to thehierarchy result in redefining the corresponding row or column in thereport.

Continuing with the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 1A, at stage 104,input may be received through the user interface to create one or morehierarchies of one or more metrics or segments in order to define one ormore columns for a report. As discussed above, these hierarchies may becreated as a result of the particular arrangement, stacking, or nestingof assets in defining the report through the report builder interface orthrough dragging and dropping assets into the report.

Given the one or more hierarchies for the report, the report may begenerated to include the one or more rows or columns as definedaccording to the hierarchical structure of the one or more metrics,segments, or other assets, as reflected in stage 106.

In generating the report, the report building tool may either retrievethe necessary data for building the report from a locally stored portionof the network site analytics data or the report building tool mayretrieve the necessary data for building the report remotely from ananalytics server, such as analytics server 506 in FIG. 5. For example,if an existing report includes three segments used to filter reportvalues, and one particular column is defined according to only a singleone of the segments, then if one of the two other segments is stacked ontop of the particular column, then the report values in the particularcolumn may be filtered according to two segments instead of one. In thisexample, since the data set for satisfying the particular column hasbeen narrowed (two filters instead of one filter), then no additionaldata would be necessary for generating a new report and therefore thenew report may be generated from locally stored network site analyticsdata that has been previously downloaded. Otherwise, for example if anew segment is added creating a new column, then the report buildingtool may determine that the data to generate an updated report does notexist locally, and the report building tool may access the remoteanalytics server to retrieve the data necessary for updating the report.The report building tool's determination of whether local data may beused to update a report may result in a reduction of network bandwidthand increased responsiveness in generating an updated report.

FIG. 1B illustrates a flowchart highlighting example processing stagesthat may be present in an embodiment of a report building tool, wheresome of the processing stages correspond to the specification andgeneration of a report. In this example, given a user interface providedby the report building tool, a user may select user interface elementscorresponding to various filtering criteria provided through the userinterface, as reflected in stage 122. The user may also select a dataset, which the report building tool may use as a basis for building areport, and where the data set corresponds to the filtering criteria andmay be organized according to the various filtering criteria. Forexample, a data set may be organized according to fields or dimensionswith one or more entries per field, such as dimension items. Further,the data set may include measurable attributes, or metrics.

Given the user interface of the report building tool, a user may specifyone or more filtering criteria and one or more metrics from which areport may be generated, as seen within the subelements of stage 124. Anexample interface may be seen in interface window 200 in FIG. 2A.

From the report building tool user interface, a user may select afiltering criterion, where the filtering criterion is one of thefiltering criteria provided through the user interface, as reflected instage 124A. For example, a user may select a “BROWSERS” dimension, asseen in FIG. 3A, stage 314. A user may further select another filteringcriterion such as a segment or another dimension, as reflected inelement 124B. For example, a user may select a “PURCHASERS” segment, asseen in FIG. 3C, element 338. A user may further select one or moremetrics, or measurable attributes of the data set, as reflected in stage124C. For example, a user may select a “VISITORS” metric, as seen inFIG. 3C, element 339.

Once a user has specified a report, the user may build the report, asreflected in element 126 and subelements 126A-126E of FIG. 1. Dependingon whether or not the user has specified the filtering criterion toapply to the other filtering criterion the report building tool maygenerate a report with one or two values corresponding to the measurableattribute. This conditional case is depicted in stage 126A.

In the case that the other filtering criterion is not specified to applyto, or filter, the filtering criterion, the report building tool adds avalue corresponding to the filtering of the metric according to thefiltering criterion and also adds a value corresponding to the filteringof the metric according to the other filtering criterion, as per stages126B-126D. To this end, the report building tool determines a valuecorresponding to the measurable attribute, where the value is from thedata set as filtered according to the filtering criterion, as reflectedin element 126B. Further, in this example the determined value is notfrom the data set as filtered according to the other filteringcriterion. The report building tool also determines a valuecorresponding to the measurable attribute, where the value is from thedata set as filtered according to the other filtering criterion, asreflected in element 126C. In this case, where the other filteringcriterion does not apply to the filtering criterion, the report is builtto include the values determined as per elements 126B and 126C, asdepicted in stage 126D.

As an example of the other filtering criterion not applying to thefiltering criterion may be found within FIG. 3A. In this example, it maybe the case that a user has already added the “BROWSERS” dimension 314,and the specification of a table beginning at element 124 corresponds tothe addition of two segments, segment “PURCHASERS” 338 and segment“LOYAL VISITORS” 337 of FIG. 3C. In this example, both segments wereadded in adjacent columns stacked beneath the “VISITORS” 339 metric.Given that each segment corresponds to its own column, each metric valuein the column is filtered according to its respective column segment andaccording to the “BROWSERS” dimension. In this example, the determinedvalue as per stage 126B would correspond to value 342, or 1,399,111visitors that are loyal visitors using browsers. In this example, thedetermined value as per stage 126C would correspond to value 341, or118,115 visitors that made a purchase using a browser. In this example,each of these values would be added to the report.

As another example where a single metric, or measurable attribute, maybe filtered according to more than one filtering criteria, a user maystack segments directly on top of each other such that multiple segmentsprovide the filters for a single column of a report. Referring again toFIG. 3C, as depicted, table cell 341 corresponds to “VISITORS” metric339 as filtered according to both the “BROWSERS” dimension 314 and“PURCHASERS” segment 338. However, instead of, or in addition to adding“LOYAL VISITORS” segment 337 in a column adjacent to the column for the“PURCHASERS” segment 338, a user may have stacked “LOYAL VISITORS”segment 337 beneath “PURCHASERS” segment 338 within the same column. Inthis example, the single cell 341 would represent “VISITORS” metric 339as filtered according to a dimension and two segments. The reportbuilding tool does not place any restriction on the quantity of segmentsthat may be stacked, and further, there are no restrictions onheterogeneous stacking of dimensions, dimension items, and segments.

In the case that the other filtering criterion applies, or filters, thefiltering criterion, the report building tool adds a value correspondingto an intersection point in the table of the two filtering criteria. Inother words, the report is built to include a value corresponding to themeasurable attribute, where the value would be based on the data set asfiltered according to both the filtering criterion and the otherfiltering criterion, as per stage 126E. Further, in this example, thereport includes at least a portion that is not filtered according to atleast one of the filtering criterion or the other filtering criterion.In this example, the limited scope of the application of a givenfiltering criterion is contrary to prior art methods where filterssimply apply to all elements of a report.

In this case, where the other filtering criterion does apply to thefiltering criterion, an example may be found within FIG. 3C. Asdescribed above with regard to FIG. 3C, the two filtering criteria are a“BROWSERS” dimension along a row and a “PURCHASERS” segment along acolumn, and the metric is “VISITORS”. In this example, the dimension andsegment intersect at element 341 of FIG. 3C, in which the segmentapplies a filter to the metric along the column corresponding to thesegment and the dimension applies another filter at the intersectionpoint 341. In other words, in this example, of all visitors, there are118,115 visitors that purchased using browsers.

In some embodiments, the title bar panel corresponding to a given asset,such as the title bar panel for “VISITORS” 339, may include an iconindicating that the title bar panel may be dragged to a differentlocation, or to a different position in the hierarchy. For example,given the two columns and three assets of assets 337, 339, and 338 ofFIG. 3C, a user may click and hold on a corner, or any other portion, ofthe title bar for Purchasers 338, and the user may then drag the titlebar for Purchasers 338 to a position in the report corresponding to thearea indicated by element 398. In this way, a user may add a segmentbetween Visitors 339 and Loyal Visitors 337, resulting in a newhierarchically stacked set of assets: Visitors 339>Purchasers 338>LoyalVisitors 337, and another result is the collapsing, or disappearance ofthe column corresponding to the Purchasers 338 segment. In this way, asegment or any other asset may be dragged into a new hierarchicalposition. For example, if instead of the hierarchically stacked columnsof FIG. 3C being organized as: [COLUMN x] Visitors 339>Loyal Visitors337, and [COLUMN x+1] Visitors 339>Purchasers 338, the hierarchicallystacked columns were organized as: [COLUMN x] Visitors 339>LoyalVisitors 337, and [COLUMN x+1]Purchasers 338. In other words, column xhad two stacked assets and column x+1 has one stacked asset, in thiscase a user can drag the title bar for Visitors 339 over an area abovePurchasers 338, and the result would be stacking an asset on top ofPurchasers 338. In a similar way, hierarchically nested rows may beshuffled and modified.

Example Embodiment: Report Building Tool

FIG. 2A illustrates an embodiment of a user interface of the reportbuilding tool which allows a user to generate a default report andsubsequently modify the report. The user interface window of the reportbuilding tool in this embodiment is represented by window 200. Beforegenerating reports, a user may first specify a content site for whichthe report building tool may access a data set. This may be done with auser directing the report building tool to log in to, for example, ananalytics server and to specify a content site. In other embodiments,the data set may be accessible locally, or at one or more remote storagelocations.

To begin, in this example, a user may select the Reports 202 menuoption, and from the displayed menu, the user may select the SiteContent 204 option, from which the user may ultimately select adimension. In this example, a user selects a pages dimension, and thepages dimension may be used to break down or filter the analytics dataaccording to various pages of a content site. The Site Content 204option is one of many other options a user may choose to build aninitial report, including site metrics, mobile, paths, traffic sources,campaigns, products, visitor retention, visitor profile, customconversion, custom traffic, test & target, survey, marketing channels,among other potential options, including the option the generate areport from scratch.

FIG. 2B illustrates the same report building tool window 200 after areport 206 of the analytics data for a content site for the Pagedimension has been generated. Report 206 initially includes a Page 208dimension and a Page Views 210 metric. Page 208 dimension is displayedat the top of a column that includes example pages, such as Home Page212, Shopping Cart 214, and Shopping Checkout 216. The Page Views 210metric is displayed at the top of a column that includes numericalmeasures corresponding to the dimension items corresponding to Page 208,including dimension items 212-216. For example, in this report, HomePage 212 corresponds to Page View 210 metric, meaning that the home pageof the content site had 417,091 page views. The default date range inthis report is the last 90 days, as indicated by date range 220. Daterange 220 corresponds to date icon 288, where selection of the date iconmay display a user interface allowing a user to further define dateinformation corresponding to the report, which is discussed below.Therefore, the home page for the content site has received 417,091 pageviews in the past 90 days. The date range of the report is modifiable atany time.

Included in the creation of the report is the creation of the Page 222tab within which the report 206 is displayed. Within the Page 222 tab isalso displayed a Table Builder 224 icon, which when clicked in thisembodiment, displays the Default Breakdowns 226 panel and the Columns228 panel. In response to the creation of the report 206, the DefaultBreakdowns 226 and Columns 228 panels are populated corresponding to thegenerated report. Page 230 corresponds to Page dimension 208, andMetrics 232 includes the Page Views 234 metric corresponds to the PageViews 210 metric.

In addition to the generated report 206 depicted in FIG. 2B, a user maychoose to further manipulate the analytics data in search of a pattern,or trend, or to otherwise understand how viewers of the content engagewith the content site. In one embodiment, to introduce additionaldimensions, segments, or metrics, a user may click on the Table Builder224 icon within the Page 222 tab created when the initial report wascreated. In other embodiments, the Default Breakdowns 226 and Columns228 panels may be displayed by default and a user may immediately beginto introduce dimensions, segments, and metrics to the Default Breakdowns226 and Columns 228 panel after a report is generated.

In different embodiments, the table builder user interface panel mayhave different formats. For example, in some embodiments, the tablebuilder user interface panel may have user interface elements similar tothose depicted in FIGS. 2B-2D, where a user may drag and drop assetsinto either the Default Breakdowns 226 panel or the Columns 228 panelsuch that the assets are displayed in a hierarchically organized andnested manner, as in FIG. 2D. Further in this embodiment, a given assetmay be dropped into a particular hierarchical nesting based on theposition into which the asset is placed with respect toalready-displayed assets.

In other embodiments, the table builder user interface panel may haveuser interface elements similar to those depicted in FIG. 2J, where theassets that make up the report are displayed in a left-tab view. Theparticular display of a preferred user interface format may bedetermined through a specification of a user preference. In eitherconfiguration of the table builder user interface, the functionality andflexibility of arranging assets is the same.

FIG. 2C illustrates a result in this example of a user having clicked onVisits 236 within Metrics 232 panel, and dragged Visits 236 into theColumns 228 panel of the Table Builder 224 interface panel. In thisexample, in response to dragging Visits 236 into the Columns 228 panel,a new metric is introduced into the Columns 228 panel, as depicted byVisits 238. In other example, the new metric is not added to the reportuntil Build Table 240 icon is selected. This process may be repeatedindefinitely, with a user adding any number of dimensions, segments, andmetrics to the Default Breakdowns 226 and Columns 228 panels. At somepoint, a user may wish to see the result of the new table, and the usermay then click on Build Table 240 icon to generate a new report.

However, in this example, further customizations are performed before anew report is generated. FIG. 2D illustrates the addition of twosegments into the Columns 228 panel, segments Non-Purchasers 242 andPurchasers 244. Since these two segments are the first introduced intothe Columns 228 panel, a top-level Segment 287 indicator is createdwithin the Columns 228 panel. Nested within the Segment 287 level arethe two new segments, Non-Purchasers 242 and Purchasers 244.

Further in this example, FIG. 2E illustrates the result of a user havingclicked the Build Table 240 icon. At this point, report window 206 maybe updated in accord with the options specified in the Table Builder 224panel discussed above. As compared to the initial report, seen in reportwindow 206 of FIG. 2B, report window 246 of FIG. 2E includes theadditional metrics and segments introduced through additions to theDefault Breakdowns 226 and Columns 228 panels. Thus, where the reportwindow in FIG. 2B included Page 208 dimension items along the rows andPage Views 210 as the only column, report window 246 in FIG. 2E includesVisits 248 metric. Further, beneath each of the metrics, Page Views 210and Visits 248, are the two newly introduced segments. In other words,for Page Views 210 there are the two filtering segments Non-Purchasers250 and Purchasers 252, and for Visits 248 there are the two filteringsegments Non-Purchasers 254 and Purchasers 256.

FIG. 2J illustrated is an embodiment of a table builder user interface287, as discussed above. In contrast to the table builder user interface224 of FIGS. 2B-2D, the displayed assets are arranged in a left-tabview, as depicted according to elements assets 288 and 289. In thistable builder user interface, Rows/Breakdown 288 panel corresponds toDefault Breakdowns 226 panel in FIG. 2B, and Columns 289 panelcorresponds to Columns 228 panel in FIG. 2B. Summary 290 panel providesa summary of the assets to be used in constructing a report, whereelement 293 corresponds to Rows/Breakdown 288, and where element 294corresponds to Columns 289. Further, the Summary 290 panel providesinformation regarding each of the elements, for example, under theRows/Breakdown summary 293, the summary indicates that for dimension“Day”, 90 rows are to be generated, which may correspond to the previous90 days. In regard to dimension Day 291, Breakdown 296 indicates a valueto use in determining a quantity of dimension items to display.

As with the table builder user interface in FIGS. 2B-2D, assets may bedragged and dropped into the Rows/Breakdown 288 panel or Columns 289panel. At the point that each asset has been added, and a report isdesired, a user may select the Replace Table 295 icon in order toreplace the currently displayed table with the table corresponding tothe selection made within the table builder user interface.

FIG. 2F illustrates an alternate, dynamic manner in which a user maymodify or update a generated report. As depicted in report window 246, auser has added a column to the generated report corresponding to SinglePage Visits 258 metric. In this example, Single Page Visits 260 metricis introduced to the generated report in response to a user havingclicked over Single Page Visits 258 in the Metrics 232 panel, anddragged Single Page Visits 258 into position within the generatedreport. In response to the addition of Single Page Visits 258 to thegenerated report, the report is dynamically updated with correspondinganalytics data.

FIG. 2G further illustrates a report modified in response to a userdragging a First Time Visits 262 segment from within the Segments 264panel into position within the report, as depicted by First Time Visits266. In this manner, in this example, a user is able to stack, or nest,the First Time Visits 262 segment within the Page Views 210 column.Again, in response to the addition of the First Time Visits 262 segment,the report is dynamically updated. To illustrate an element of theupdate, cell 268 of FIG. 2F, prior to the addition of the First TimeVisits segment is equal to 327,945, meaning that page views ofnon-purchasers of the home page totaled 327,945 over the past 90 days.By contrast, cell 270 of FIG. 2G after the addition of the First TimeVisits segment is equal to 70,644, meaning that page views ofnon-purchasers of the home page, where the viewers of the page are alsofirst time visitors totaled 70,644 over the past 90 days. Further, aseasily as the new First Time Visitors 262 segment was introduced bydragging the segment into the report, any segment or metric may also beremoved by dragging a given segment or metric out of the report.

FIG. 2H illustrates the addition, in this example, of another segment tofurther filter Page Views 210. The new segment, Visits from SocialBook272, is nested under Page Views 210 and Non-Purchasers 250, creating acorresponding, new column. In another example, Visits from SocialBook272 could have been added beneath First Time Visits 262, which would nothave resulted in an additional column. Instead, if Visits fromSocialBook 272 has been added underneath First Time Visitors 262, anadditional filter would have been added to the results of the existingcolumn, resulting in report results reflective of page views fromnon-purchasers, where the non-purchasing page views are from first timevisitors that also come from visiting the SocialBook web site.

FIG. 2H also illustrates the search for a dimension, where the usertypes in word into search box 274 of the Dimensions 276 panel. In thisexample, the search result narrows the displayed dimensions to only onedimension, Cites 278. Further, corresponding to the Cities 278 dimensionis an arrow 280 that may be selected to drill down into the dimensionand display one or more dimension items corresponding to a givendimension.

FIG. 2I depicts a partial list of cities displayed in response to a userclicking icon arrow 280 is displayed within the Cities 282 panel. Fromthe list of cities, corresponding to the dimension items of the citiesdimension, a user has dragged Tokyo 284 from the Cities 282 panel intothe column under the Visits 248 metric in the report window. In responseto the addition of the Tokyo 286 dimension item, the columncorresponding to the Visits 248 metric is updated, and the Tokyo 286dimension item is added onto the stack displayed beneath the Visits 248metric. As with the addition of assets described earlier, in response tothe addition of the Tokyo 286 dimension item, the existing column underVisits 248/Non-Purchasers 254 is further filtered according to theaddition of the newly added asset.

Example Embodiment: Report Building Tool

FIG. 3A illustrates a portion of a report within a user interface windowof the report building tool. The complete report includes the portionsfrom FIGS. 3B and 3C. The user interface window of the report buildingtool in this embodiment is represented by window 300. The portion of thereport in FIG. 3A includes options for selecting dimensions, segments,and metrics. The portion of the report building tool user interface inFIG. 3A further includes a workspace panel 350 within window 300, wherethe generated report is displayed within workspace panel 350.

In different embodiments, the generated report may have differentformats for indicating a hierarchical structure of assets. For example,in some embodiments, the report generated may indicate nesting levels ofrows similar to the nesting of rows depicted in FIG. 3A, where a nestinglevel is indicated such that an asset is displayed at one level such asdimension item 315, and a nested level is displayed such that the scopeof dimension item 315 is indicated by indentation of nested assets suchas page dimension 316.

In other embodiments, the generated report may have a format forindicating a hierarchical structure of assets as depicted in FIG. 3E,where the nested scope is indicated according to an visual effect whereit appears similar to a sub report displayed within the report. Forexample, within the scope of dimension item 399B of the “Browsers”dimension is a nested page dimension 399C, indicating particular pages.The rows and columns defined according to the hierarchy of assets 399Band 399C may be seen within the report area 399D. Further in thisembodiment, for each of the rows for page dimension 399C, thecorresponding rows for dimension item 399B display grayed out text forthe dimension item 399B “Microsoft Internet Explorer 9”.

The particular display of a preferred user interface format may bedetermined through a specification of a user preference. In eitherconfiguration of the report display format, the functionality andflexibility of arranging and displaying assets is the same.

Returning to FIG. 3A, Dimensions 301 is a panel within the reportbuilding tool window 300 which allows a user to search for and select adimension or dimension item to add to a report. A search box 302 allowsa user to search for a specific dimension or dimension item. Within thedimensions panel 301 is a list of example dimensions 303 and 304.Dimension 303, a page dimension, may be introduced into the report whena user would like to see page items, such as those listed under the pagedimension 316, nested under dimension item 315, a browser item, withinthis example report. Dimension 304 may similarly be placed within areport at any nesting level of the rows.

In this example, items 313 are dimension items corresponding to thebrowser 314 dimension, which corresponds to browser types, such asdimension items 315, 318, and 323. While the rows visible within thisexample are all dimension items corresponding to the browser dimension,in other cases, multiple dimensions may be added to the rows of thetable of the report. For example, at the end of the last row ofdimension items corresponding to the browser dimension, a user may clickand drag one or more of the dimensions within dimensions panel 301 intoa row of the table. A way to do this may be to scroll down to the lastdimension item of dimension 314 and drop the dragged dimension onto anempty row. Another way is to minimize the display of dimension items,for example, by clicking on the “+” icon adjacent to the browser 314dimension in order to view empty rows.

Segments 305 is a panel that allows a user to scroll through or searchfor a particular segment or segments, such as segment All Visits 307,among others. Search entry box 306 allows a user to perform a keywordsearch for a particular segment or group of segments. The reportbuilding tool places no restrictions on where within a table a segmentmay be added, either with regard to which hierarchical level the segmentis introduced, or to what asset the segment is applied to, includingother segments. For example, dimension item 318 has been filtered withthe application of segments All Visitors 320, First Time Visitors 321,and Loyal Visitors 322, which are displayed under segment header 319.

Metrics 308 is a panel that allows a user to scroll through or searchfor a particular metric or metrics, such as metric Time Spent per Visit310, among others. Search entry box 309 allows a user to perform akeyword search for a particular metric or group of metrics. Similar tosegments and dimensions, a metric or set of metrics may be added at anyplace or at any hierarchical level of a report. For example, metrics325-327 have been added under dimension item 323, allowing, a user tosee in the table the number of visitors attributable to content viewersusing Mozilla® FireFox® 3.5, among other metric values.

In some embodiments, the report building tool may restrict the nestingof a metric under another metric. Because a metric may correspond to anumber, this restriction on nesting metrics prevents a single cellwithin the table from being associated with two possibly differentnumerical values.

In other embodiments, a user may choose to have the option of combiningmetrics to have a cell within a table correspond to some combination ofthe metrics. For example, given three metrics that correspond,respectively, to visitors with IP addresses in California, Texas, andNew York, a user may wish to combine these values into a single entry ina cell of a table in a report to view the number of visitors from threeof the most populous states in the United States. In some cases, it maynot make sense to combine metrics, such as when one metric is a measureof time spent per visit and another metric is a measure of the number ofpage reloads. In such cases, if a user is attempting to combine metricswith different units of measurement, the report building tool may issuea warning to the user indicating the problem. In other cases, a user maybe provided with an option to specify how multiple metrics are to becombined. For example, in the case above where number of IP addressesfrom selected states are to be combined, a user may specify that thevalues are to be added. In other cases, a user may specify that valuesare to be subtracted, for example, when the two metrics are first timevisitors and loyal visitors a user may specify that the value to bedisplayed is first time visitors minus loyal visitors. In other cases, auser may specify that one or more set operations are to be performed,such as a set union or intersection. Further, a user may be given theoption to rename the row entry corresponding to the combined metrics, ora default behavior may be for the report building tool to simply displayeach metric combined.

FIGS. 3B and 3C depict various asset combinations related to definingthe columns of a table in a report. Asset combinations may be stacked toallow a user to specifically define the focus of the analytics data theuser for which the user is interested. In this example, each of thethree columns is specified by a combination of three assets, a CustomLink Views 328 metric, an All Visits 329 segment, and a particular datedimension item, such as data dimension item 330 corresponding to May 15,2011. In other words, for a given one of the three columns, three assetshave been stacked, a metric, a segment, and a dimension item. In othercases, a user may stack an unlimited amount of additional segments anddimension items for a given column within the table. As discussed above,in a default case, only one metric is allowed to be stacked to avoidmultiple conflicting measurement values to correspond to the same cellof the table. Further in this case, when a metric has been added to acolumn, such as Custom Link Views 328 and within the same table, anothermetric has been added to a row, such as Reloads 325, and where theintersection occurs at cell 334, the cell is blank to reflect toconflict between the two metrics. Similarly in this example, all tablecells at the intersection of a metric value in a row and a metric valuein a column are defined to be empty. However, for the remaining cells ofthe columns in FIG. 3B, there is no conflict between metric values andthe table populates each cell according to the analytics data and theassets in the corresponding rows and columns.

Pivoting

In the simplest case, a report may consist of a metric and a dimensionitem of a dimension. In such a case, pivoting the X- and Y-axis is atrivial matter because each single column from left to right becomes asingle row from top to bottom, and similarly, each single row from topto bottom becomes a single column from left to right, with row/columnlabels and table values being correspondingly transposed. However, whena report includes hierarchically nested row assets or hierarchicallystacked column assets, additional considerations come to the fore.

As discussed above in regard to FIGS. 3A-3D, a report may includemultiple hierarchically nested rows, or a report may includehierarchically stacked assets corresponding to a single row, or a reportmay also include assets hierarchically stacked to correspond to a singlecolumn or assets hierarchically stacked to correspond to multiplecolumns.

In one embodiment, pivoting hierarchically nested row assets intocorrespondingly hierarchically stacked column assets may result in fewercolumns than the rows for the hierarchically nested row assets. Forexample, at each successive hierarchical row level, the assets at alower nested hierarchy may each correspond to a column, however, theasset at the level above does not need its own column because it may bestacked on top of one of the columns created for the lower hierarchy.Further, this continues to be true at each successive hierarchicallevel. Generally, in an example pivot operation, the number of resultingcolumns is the number of rows minus the number of nested levels. Forexample, consider the hierarchical row structure of elements 318-322 ofFIG. 3A. In this example there are four rows, row 318 for MozillaFirefox 4.0, the top level of this hierarchy (ignoring the Browsers 313dimension level for simplicity), and rows 320-322 corresponding tosegments nested one level beneath the top level. In this example,pivoting rows 318, 320-322 creates three columns (one for each of thesegments in the lower hierarchical level), and two stacked levels (onefor each level of the hierarchy). Specifically, for each level of therow hierarchy, starting at the top, a title bar corresponding to thecurrent level of the row hierarchy is created that spans each columncreated for each of the assets in the next level down. In this case, atitle bar panel is created for Mozilla Firefox 4.0 that spans threecolumns, one for each of the three segments in the next level down,segments 320-322.

In other embodiments, instead of condensing a hierarchically nested rowlevel, the row at the top of the hierarchically nested row can be addedto its own column prior to the creation of the hierarchically stackedcolumns described above in the example corresponding to FIG. 3A. Thisoption may be user selectable or configurable, or the user may definedefault behavior.

In one embodiment, pivoting hierarchically stacked column assets intocorrespondingly hierarchically nested row assets may result in a greateramount of rows than the initial quantity of columns. Similar to thediscussion above regarding the reason why fewer columns may result frompivoting rows, the default presentation of a row hierarchy displays anasset at a level above other assets in its own row, while the row assetwith lower level assets applies a filter to each lower level row.

FIG. 9 depicts an example flowchart illustrating selected stages inpivoting hierarchically nested rows into hierarchically stacked columns.FIG. 11A depicts an example set of rows prior to a pivot and FIG. 11Bdepicts an example set of columns corresponding to a pivot of the rowsin FIG. 11A.

With regard to the hierarchically nested rows of FIG. 11A, in thisexample, a pivot may begin at stage 902 of FIG. 9, where a variable,current_stack_level, is initialized to level 0. At stage 904 the nextasset is identified, asset0 and a column is created, corresponding tocolumn 0 in FIG. 11B. At stage 906, a stack level is created for themost recently created column, column 0, and the created stack level isstack level 0, and stack level 0 is labeled with asset0.

At stage 908, a determination is made as to whether asset0 includes anested row, or in other words, whether asset0 includes a sub-hierarchy.In this example, asset1 is nested within asset0, and thereforeprocessing continues to stage 910, where the current_stack_level isincremented to level 1, and the next asset, asset1, is identified. Atstage 912, for the most recently created column, column 0, a stack levelat the current stack level is created, stack level 1, and labeledasset1, as depicted in FIG. 11B. In this example, processing continuesat the determination of whether the current asset, asset1, includes asub-hierarchy, at stage 908. In this example, asset1 includessub-hierarchy asset2, therefore processing continues at stage 910, wherethe current_stack_level is incremented to level 2, and the next asset isidentified, asset2. At stage 912, a stack level at level 2 is created,which is beneath stack level 1, and created stack level 2 is labeledwith asset2, as depicted in FIG. 11B. At this point in the example, thecurrent_stack_level is 2, and the currently identified asset is asset2.

In this example, another determination is made as to whether asset2includes a sub-hierarchy, and in this case, it does not, and processingcontinues at stage 914, where a determination of whether more assets atthe current stack level, stack level 2 are present. In this case, thenext asset, asset3, is also at stack level 2, and so processingcontinues to stage 920. At stage 920 the next asset, asset3, isidentified, and a column is created adjacent to the previous column, andthis created column is column1 in FIG. 11B. At stage 922, for the mostrecently created column, column 1, a stack level is created at thecurrent stack level, level 2, and the created stack is labeled with thecurrently identified asset, asset3. At stage 924, for each given levelabove the current stack level, levels 0 and 1, the scope of the stacklevels is expanded to encompass the most recently created column, column1, as depicted in FIG. 11B. At this point in the example, thecurrent_stack_level is 2, and the currently identified asset is asset3.

At stage 914, a determination is made as to whether the next asset,asset4, is at the current stack level, and because asset3 and asset4 arenot at the same level, processing continues to stage 916. At stage 916,a determination is made as to whether there are more assets, and thereare more assets, asset4 and asset2, and therefore processing continuesto stage 918. At stage 918, a determination is made as to whether thenext asset, asset4, is at a higher level, and since asset4 is at nestedlevel 1, it is at a higher level than the currently identified asset,asset3, and therefore processing continues to stage 926. At stage 926,the current_stack_level is decremented to 1. At stage 920, the nextasset is identified, asset4, and a column is created, column 2. At stage922, for the most recently created column, a stack level is created atthe current stack level, level 1, and the stack level is labeledcorresponding to the currently identified asset, asset4. At stage 924,for each level above the current stack level, in this case only level 0,the scope of the stack level, or the scope of asset0, is extended toencompass the most recently created column, column 2, as depicted withinFIG. 11B. At this point in the example, the current stack level is level1, and the currently identified asset is asset4.

At stage 914, a determination is made as to whether the next asset is atthe same level, and because asset4 and asset5 are not at the same level,processing continues to stage 916. At stage 916, a determination is madeas to whether there are more assets, and there are more assets, asset5,and therefore processing continues to stage 918. At stage 918, adetermination is made as to whether the next asset, asset5, is at ahigher level, and since asset5 is at nested level 0, it is at a higherlevel than the currently identified asset, asset4, and thereforeprocessing continues to stage 926. At stage 926, the current_stack_levelis decremented to 0. At stage 920, the next asset, asset5, is identifiedand a column, column 3 is created. At stage 922, for the most recentlycreated column, column 3, a stack level at the current stack level,level 0, is created, and the stack level is labeled according to thecurrently identified asset, asset5. At stage 924, for each given levelabove the current stack level the scope is extended, however, in thiscase there are no levels above the current stack level of 0, and soprocessing continues to stage 914. At this point in the example, thecurrent_stack_level is 0, and the currently identified asset is asset5.

At stage 914, a determination is made as to whether the next asset is atthe same level, however, in this case, there is no next asset and soprocessing continues to stage 916. At stage 916, a determination is madeas to whether there are any more assets, and in this case, there arenot, and therefore processing continues to stage 928, where the pivotoperation ends.

At this point, the hierarchically stacked columns, as depicted in FIG.11B, have been created to correspond to the hierarchically nested rowsin FIG. 11A.

FIG. 10 depicts an example flowchart illustrating selected stages inpivoting hierarchically stacked columns into hierarchically nested rows.FIG. 11B depicts an example set of columns prior to a pivot and FIG. 11Adepicts an example set of rows corresponding to a pivot of the columnsin FIG. 11B.

With regard to the hierarchically stacked columns of FIG. 11B, at stage1002 the next asset, asset0, is identified, and the current_nested_levelis initialized to 0. At stage 1004, a row is created, row 0, and a labelfor the row is created at the current nested level, level 0, where thelabel corresponds to the currently identified asset, asset0.

At stage 1006, a determination is made as to whether the currentlyidentified asset, asset0, includes a sub-hierarchy, or in other words,whether asset0 has another asset stacked beneath the current asset. Inthis case, asset1 is stacked beneath asset0, and therefore processingcontinues to stage 1008, where the current_nested_level is incrementedto 1. At stage 1010, the next asset is identified, asset1. At stage1012, a row is created, row 1, which is nested within the scope of thepreviously created row, row 0, and further, a label is created for thenew row, row 1 at the current_nested_level, level 1, where the labelcorresponds to the currently identified asset, asset1. At this point,the current_nested_level is 1 and the currently identified asset isasset1.

At stage 1006, a determination is made as to whether the currentlyidentified asset, asset1, includes a sub-hierarchy, and in this case,asset1 is stacked above asset2, and therefore, processing continues tostage 1008. At stage 1008, the current_nested_level is incremented to 2.At stage 1010, the next asset, asset2, is identified. At stage 1012, arow is created, row 2, which is nested within the scope of thepreviously created row, row 1, and further, a label is created for thenew row, row 2 at the current_nested_level, level 2, where the labelcorresponds to the currently identified asset, asset2. At this point,the current_nested_level is 2 and the currently identified asset isasset2.

At stage 1006, a determination is made as to whether the currentlyidentified asset, asset2, includes a sub-hierarchy, and in this case,asset2 is stacked at the same level as asset3, and therefore, processingcontinues to stage 1014. At stage 1014, a determination is made as towhether more assets exist at the current stack level, and in this case,asset3 exists at the same stack level as asset2, and therefore,processing continues to stage 1022. At stage 1022, the next asset isidentified, asset3. At stage 1024, a new row is created, row 3, whererow 3 is nested within the scope of the row at one level above thecurrent nested level, and since the current_nested_level is 2, row 3 iscreated within the scope of row 1, or within the scope of asset1, asdepicted within FIG. 11A. Further at stage 1024, the new row, row 3 iscreated at the same level as the current nested level, level 2, which isthe level for asset2, and the label for row 3 is placed at the currentnested level, level 2, and the label is asset3. At this point in theexample, the current_nested_level is 2, and the currently identifiedasset is asset3.

At stage 1014, a determination is made as to whether the next asset isat the same stack level as asset3, and in this case, the next asset,asset4 is at a higher level, and therefore processing continues to stage1016. At stage 1016, a determination is made as to whether there aremore assets, and since there are more assets, processing continues tostage 1018. At stage 1018, a determination is made as to whether thenext asset is at a higher level, and in this case, the next asset isasset4 is at a higher level, and therefore processing continues to stage1020. At stage 1020, the current_nested_level is decremented to 1. Atstage 1022, the next asset is identified, asset4. At stage 1024, a newrow is created, row 4, where row 4 is nested within the scope of the rowat one level above the current nested level, and since thecurrent_nested_level is 1, row 4 is created within the scope of row 0,or within the scope of asset0, as depicted within FIG. 11A. Further atstage 1024, the new row, row 4 is created at the same level as thecurrent nested level, level 1, which is the level for asset1, and thelabel for row 4 is placed at the current nested level, level 1, and thelabel is asset4. At this point in the example, the current_nested_levelis 1, and the currently identified asset is asset4.

At stage 1014, a determination is made as to whether the next asset isat the same stack level as asset4, and in this case, the next asset,asset5 is at a higher level, and therefore processing continues to stage1016. At stage 1016, a determination is made as to whether there aremore assets, and since there are more assets, processing continues tostage 1018. At stage 1018, a determination is made as to whether thenext asset is at a higher level, and in this case, the next asset isasset5 is at a higher level, and therefore processing continues to stage1020. At stage 1020, the current_nested_level is decremented to 0. Atstage 1022, the next asset is identified, asset5. At stage 1024, a newrow is created, row 5, where row 5 is nested within the scope of the rowat one level above the current nested level, and since thecurrent_nested_level is 0, row 5 is created at the top level, which isnot within the scope of another row or asset, as depicted within FIG.11A. Further at stage 1024, the new row, row 5 is created at the samelevel as the current nested level, level 0, which is the level forasset0, and the label for row 5 is placed at the current nested level,level 0, and the label is asset5. At this point in the example, thecurrent_nested_level is 0, and the currently identified asset is asset5.

At stage 1014, a determination is made as to whether the next asset isat the same stack level as asset5, and in this case, there is no nextasset, and therefore processing continues to stage 1016. At stage 1016,a determination is made as to whether there are more assets, and sincethere are no more assets, processing continues to stage 1026, which endsthe pivot operation.

At this point, the hierarchically nested rows, as depicted in FIG. 11A,have been created to correspond to the hierarchically stacked columns inFIG. 11B.

Rolling Dates

FIGS. 4A and 4B depict elements of user interfaces 400 and 402,according to one embodiment, allowing a user to define date rangeinformation for a report. In one embodiment, date range window 400 maybe displayed in response to a user selecting date icon 288 in FIG. 2B.

Within date range window 400, a user may select from two tabs, Presets404 and Calendar 406. The Presets 404 tab displays multiple,system-defined default values from which a user may select one or morerolling date ranges. A rolling date is defined relative to the time atwhich a report may be generated. For example, in the report generated inFIG. 2B, the date range of the report is the last 90 days. In this way,given a rolling date of the last 90 days, on whatever day a usergenerates the report, the relevant analytics data used is for the 90days prior to the date on which the report is generated.

In this example, a user has selected a rolling date of the previous 90days, as indicated within the Selected Date Range 412 interface element.In this example, in response to a user selection within a selection areaof one of the displayed rolling date ranges, a user may specify acorresponding rolling date range. Selection area 408, corresponding to arolling date of the previous 90 days, is one example selection area.

In some cases, a user may select on the Calendar 406 tab to be presentedwith a graphical illustration of a calendar from which a user may clickand drag or simply click to define a specific date range for a report.

Add Preset 410 icon allows a user to further specify rolling dateranges. In this example, in response to a user selection of the AddPreset 410 icon, user interface window 402 is displayed. User interfacewindow 402 in FIG. 4B allows a user to define preset names that may beadded to the Presets 404 tab of the date range window 400. For example,Preset Name 414 has been specified to be “Last 30 Days”, and when a userchooses to save this definition, it may be added to the optionsdisplayed within the Presets 404 tab in date range window 400. Thepreset name of “Last 30 Days” is arbitrary and may be any user-specifiedtext.

In defining a new preset rolling date, a user may specify the beginningand end date ranges. In this example, a user has defined the preset nameof “Last 30 Days” to have a start date of the current date minus 30 daysand an end date of the current date. In creating this rolling datedefinition, a user may choose from the list of abbreviations withinpanel 420. Other available abbreviations are “cd” for current date, “cw”for current week, “cm” for current month, “cq” for current quarter, “cy”for current year, among possible user-defined abbreviations.

In other embodiments, not displayed, a user may define a rolling datewith even greater specificity. For example, a user may define a rollingdate of “Last 10 Weekends”, or “Last Summer”, or “Months That Rhyme WithFray.” Further, in defining a weekend, a user may specify Friday,Saturday, and Sunday, or simply Friday and Saturday. In other words, thereport building tool does not impose restrictions in how a user maydefine a given rolling date.

Client/Server Architecture

FIG. 5 depicts an illustration, according to one embodiment, of acomputing environment in which analytics data may be collected. However,the type of data is not relevant to the above-described operation andfunctionality of the report building tool. In other words, any set ofdata may serve as the basis from which reports may be generated. In somecases, baseball statistics, financial transactions, stock data, or anyother set of data which a user may desire to analyze through theapplication of heterogeneous combinations of dimensions, segments, andmetrics in dynamically generating a report.

In the case of manipulating analytics data, a user of the reportbuilding tool may have access to the remotely or locally storedanalytics data for a given content site. For example, the user may,using the report building tool, log in to an analytics servercorresponding to the content site. In some cases, functionality foraccessing the analytics server may be built in to the report buildingtool. In other cases, a plugin may provide the report building tool withthe ability to log in to an analytics server and may handlecommunications with the analytics server. In other embodiments, theanalytics information may be stored locally, and the report buildingtool may access the analytics information locally. Other methods foraccessing the analytics information are possible, and so long asanalytics data can be accessed, the disclosed embodiments may operatesuccessfully. In other embodiments, a stand-alone application may bedeveloped to provide for the functionality described within the variousdisclosed embodiments.

Collection of analytics data may be performed in a variety of ways, andthe disclosed embodiments of a report building tool do not depend on anyparticular method for the collection of analytics data. In some cases,log files may be created on a content provider server to record everytransaction made between a device consuming content and the serverproviding the content, such as between User 508 and Content ProviderServer 504 in FIG. 5, or between User 510 and Content Provider Server504. The log files created may be periodically or aperiodicallytransmitted to an analytics server, such as Analytics Server 506 in FIG.10.

Another approach that may be used is page tagging or web bugs, where therequest for a content page may result in a content page that, upon beingdisplayed by a user's internet-enabled application, may initiatetracking of the user's navigation habits and provide the trackinginformation to an analytics server. In some cases, an image requestindicated within a requested page serves as the catalyst for theexecution of a script used to collect the analytics data. The analyticsdata is reported along with the image request made to the analyticsserver. The actual requested image may be invisible to the user, such asa transparent 1×1 pixel, displayed within the content page. Some typesof analytics data collected may be hits, or a request for a file from aweb server, page views, visits, sessions, unique visits, uniquevisitors, repeat visitors, new visitors, impressions (of advertisementsor other content), singletons (visits where only a single page isviewed), bounce rate (percentage of singleton visits), exit percentage,visibility time, session duration, page view duration, engagement time(amount of time a visitor is on a page), page views per session, clickpaths, clicks, browser type, display size, display resolution, amongother metrics.

Cloud Computing Environment

FIG. 6 depicts one possible computing environment that includes a device610 accessing a cloud computing environment 604 over network 602. Inthis example, an installed application on a device may be used to accessany of the above-discussed embodiments of a report building toolexecuting within one of the virtual computing instances 606 through 608.Further, in some embodiments, different combinations of theabove-discussed computational elements of a report building tool may beimplemented locally on device 610 and remotely within one of the virtualcomputing instances 606 through 608.

In other embodiments, the report building tool may be implemented on acomputer 612 accessing cloud computing environment 604 over network 602.In this example, a user may log in to cloud computing environment 604 toaccess a virtual computing instance within which an embodiment of thereport building tool is executing or may be executed. Further, in someembodiments, different combinations of the above-discussed computationalelements of a report building tool may be implemented locally oncomputer 612 and remotely within one of the virtual computing instances606 through 608.

Example Computer System

FIG. 8 illustrates computer system 9900 that may execute the embodimentsdiscussed above. In different embodiments, the computer system may beany of various types of devices, including, but not limited to, apersonal computer system, desktop computer, laptop, notebook, or netbookcomputer, mainframe computer system, handheld computer, workstation,network computer, a camera, a set top box, a mobile device, a consumerdevice, video game console, handheld video game device, applicationserver, storage device, a television, a video recording device, aperipheral device such as a switch, modem, router, or in general anytype of computing or electronic device.

In one embodiment, computer system 9900 includes one or more processors9910 a-9910 n coupled to system memory 9920 via input/output (I/O)interface 9930. The computer system further includes network interface9940 coupled to I/O interface 9930, and one or more input/output devices9950, such as cursor control device 9960, keyboard 9970, and one or moredisplays 9980. In some embodiments, it is contemplated that embodimentsmay be implemented using a single instance of a computer system, whilein other embodiments may be implemented on multiple such systems, ormultiple nodes making up a computer system, may be configured to hostdifferent portions or instances of embodiments. For example, in oneembodiment some elements may be implemented via one or more nodes of thecomputer system that are distinct from those nodes implementing otherelements.

In various embodiments, the computer system may be a uniprocessor systemincluding one processor, or a multiprocessor system including severalprocessors (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitable number). Theprocessors may be any suitable processor capable of executinginstructions. For example, in various embodiments, the processors may begeneral-purpose or embedded processors implementing any of a variety ofinstruction set architectures (ISAs), such as the x86, PowerPC, SPARC,or MIPS ISAs, or any other suitable ISA. In multiprocessor systems, eachof processors may commonly, but not necessarily, implement the same ISA.

In some embodiments, at least one processor may be a graphics processingunit. A graphics processing unit or GPU may be considered a dedicatedgraphics-rendering device for a personal computer, workstation, gameconsole or other computing or electronic device. Modern GPUs may be veryefficient at manipulating and displaying computer graphics, and theirhighly parallel structure may make them more effective than typical CPUsfor a range of complex graphical algorithms. For example, a graphicsprocessor may implement a number of graphics primitive operations in away that makes executing them much faster than drawing directly to thescreen with a host central processing unit (CPU). In variousembodiments, the content object processing methods disclosed herein may,at least in part, be implemented with program instructions configuredfor execution on one of, or parallel execution on two or more of, suchGPUs. The GPU(s) may implement one or more application programmerinterfaces (APIs) that permit programmers to invoke the functionality ofthe GPU(s). Suitable GPUs may be commercially available from vendorssuch as NVIDIA Corporation, ATI Technologies (AMD), and others.

System memory within the computer system may be configured to storeprogram instructions and/or data accessible from a processor. In variousembodiments, the system memory may be implemented using any suitablememory technology, such as static random access memory (SRAM),synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or anyother type of memory. In the illustrated embodiment, programinstructions and data may implement desired functions, such as thosedescribed above for the various embodiments are shown stored withinsystem memory 9920 as program instructions 9925 and data storage 9935,respectively. In other embodiments, program instructions and/or data maybe received, sent or stored upon different types of computer-accessiblemedia or on similar media separate from system memory or the computersystem. Generally, a computer-accessible medium may include storagemedia or memory media such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk orCD/DVD-ROM coupled to the computer system via the I/O interface. Programinstructions and data stored via a computer-accessible medium may betransmitted from transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals, which may be conveyed via acommunication medium such as a network and/or a wireless link, such asmay be implemented via the network interface.

In one embodiment, the I/O interface may be configured to coordinate I/Otraffic between the processor, the system memory, and any peripheraldevices in the device, including a network interface or other peripheralinterfaces, such as input/output devices. In some embodiments, the I/Ointerface may perform any necessary protocol, timing or other datatransformations to convert data signals from one component into a formatsuitable for another component to use. In some embodiments, the I/Ointerface may include support for devices attached through various typesof peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB)standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of the I/Ointerface may be split into two or more separate components, such as anorth bridge and a south bridge, for example. In addition, in someembodiments some or all of the functionality of the I/O interface, suchas an interface to system memory, may be incorporated directly into theprocessor.

The network interface of the computer system may be configured to allowdata to be exchanged between the computer system and other devicesattached to a network, such as other computer systems, or between nodesof the computer system. In various embodiments, the network interfacemay support communication via wired or wireless general data networks,such as any suitable type of Ethernet network, for example; viatelecommunications/telephony networks such as analog voice networks ordigital fiber communications networks; via storage area networks such asFibre Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/orprotocol.

The I/O devices may, in some embodiments, include one or more displayterminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices, voice oroptical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable for enteringor retrieving data from one or more computer systems. Multiple I/Odevices may be present in the computer system or may be distributed onvarious nodes of the computer system. In some embodiments, similar I/Odevices may be separate from the computer system and may interact withone or more nodes of the computer system through a wired or wirelessconnection, such as over the network interface.

The memory within the computer system may include program instructionsconfigured to implement each of the embodiments described herein. In oneembodiment, the program instructions may include software elements ofembodiments of the modules discussed earlier. The data storage withinthe computer system may include data that may be used in otherembodiments. In these other embodiments, other or different softwareelements and data may be included.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the computer system ismerely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of theembodiments described herein. In particular, the computer system anddevices may include any combination of hardware or software that canperform the indicated functions, including a computer, personal computersystem, desktop computer, laptop, notebook, or netbook computer,mainframe computer system, handheld computer, workstation, networkcomputer, a camera, a set top box, a mobile device, network device,internet appliance, PDA, wireless phones, pagers, a consumer device,video game console, handheld video game device, application server,storage device, a peripheral device such as a switch, modem, router, orin general any type of computing or electronic device. The computersystem may also be connected to other devices that are not illustrated,or instead may operate as a stand-alone system. In addition, thefunctionality depicted within the illustrated components may in someembodiments be combined in fewer components or distributed in additionalcomponents. Similarly, in some embodiments, the functionality of some ofthe illustrated components may not be provided and/or other additionalfunctionality may be available.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that, while various itemsare illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while beingused, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memoryand other storage devices for purposes of memory management and dataintegrity. Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of thesoftware components may execute in memory on another device andcommunicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computercommunication. Some or all of the system components or data structuresmay also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on acomputer-accessible medium or a portable article to be read from anappropriate drive, various examples of which are described above. Insome embodiments, instructions stored on a computer-accessible mediumseparate from the computer system may be transmitted via transmissionmedia or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digitalsignals, conveyed via a communication medium such as a network and/or awireless link. Various embodiments may further include receiving,sending or storing instructions and/or data implemented in accordancewith the foregoing description upon a computer-accessible medium.Accordingly, the present invention may be practiced with other computersystem configurations.

CONCLUSION

Various embodiments may further include receiving, sending or storinginstructions and/or data implemented in accordance with the foregoingdescription upon a computer-accessible medium. Generally, acomputer-accessible medium may include storage media or memory mediasuch as magnetic or optical media such as disks or DVD/CD-ROM, volatileor non-volatile media such as RAM, ROM, flash drives, as well astransmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, ordigital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as networkand/or a wireless link.

The various methods described herein represent example embodiments ofmethods. These methods may be implemented in software, hardware, orthrough a combination of hardware and software. The order of the methodsteps may be changed, and various elements may be added, reordered,combined, omitted, or modified.

Various modifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to aperson skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. It isintended that the invention embrace all such modifications and changesand, accordingly, the above description to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: at least one processor; anda memory having program instructions stored thereon, that when executedby the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:provide a user interface for specifying a report on web site analyticsdata, wherein the user interface comprises user interface elements forspecifying: one or more dimensions of the web site analytics data;metrics of the web site analytics data, the metrics including measurableattributes of visitor interaction with content of a web site; and one ormore segments for filtering the web site analytics data, the one or moresegments identifying a subset of web site visitors having at least onemeasurable attribute in common; wherein: the user interface allowsspecification and movement of the metrics and one or more segments in ahierarchy to define rows and columns of the report for dimensions of theweb site analytics data; each unique path through the hierarchy definesa different row or column value; and the user interface further allows alocation of a segment in the hierarchy to be changed by dragging anddropping the segment into a location within the user interface to modifythe definition of one or more columns or rows; receive input to the userinterface to create one or more hierarchies of one or more of themetrics and one or more segments to define one or more rows and one ormore columns for the report; and generate the report to comprise the oneor more rows and the one or more columns according to the created one ormore hierarchies of the one or more of the metrics and the one or moresegments.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prior to saidgenerating the report, retrieving at least a portion of the web siteanalytics data from a server, the at least a portion being sufficient togenerate the report according to the created one or more hierarchies ofthe one or more of the metrics and the one or more segments.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: prior to said generating thereport, determining whether a locally stored portion of the web siteanalytics data from a server is sufficient to generate the reportaccording to the created one or more hierarchies of the one or more ofthe metrics and the one or more segments; wherein, in response todetermining that the locally stored portion of the web site analyticsdata from the server is sufficient to generate the report, saidgenerating the report is based on the locally stored portion of the website analytics data; and wherein, in response to determining that thelocally stored portion of the web site analytics data from the server isnot sufficient to generate the report, retrieving additional web siteanalytics data from the server.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, via the user interface, input specifying aplurality of segments in a same one of the one or more hierarchies suchthat a row or column in the report is filtered according to theintersection of the plurality of segments.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, via the user interface, input changingthe order of at least one of a dimension, segment, or metric in one ofthe one or more hierarchies to modify the definitions of at least onerow or column in the report, wherein a value displayed in each cell ofthe at least one row or column is dependent on the order of the one ormore dimensions, segments, or metrics in the hierarchy.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein a metric quantizes an aspect of the web site analyticsdata across one or more dimensions of the web site analytics data. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein a segment filters the web site analyticsdata according to a specified segment criterion.
 8. The method of claim1, further comprising: generating, in response to receiving input via anelement of the user interface corresponding to a pivot operation, anupdated report, wherein each row of the updated report is based on acorresponding column of the report, wherein each column of the updatedreport is based on a corresponding row of the report, and wherein theone or more hierarchies describe both the report and the updated report.9. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving input to the userinterface comprises: receiving, via the user interface element forspecifying one or more segments of the web site analytics data, aselection of the one or more segments for filtering the web siteanalytics data, wherein placement within the user interface element ofeach segment of the one or more segments corresponds to a hierarchicallevel of the one or more hierarchies; and receiving, via the userinterface element for specifying one or more dimensions of the web siteanalytics data, a selection of the one or more dimensions of the website analytics data, wherein after input for each of the one or moresegments and the one or more dimensions has been received, saidgenerating is in response to receiving input to a user interface elementindicating generation of the report.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: displaying, within a display area, the one or more segmentswithin an element of the user interface; and wherein said receivinginput to the user interface comprises receiving drag and drop inputcorresponding to a drag of a single segment of the one or more segmentsfrom the display area onto a row or column of an existing report;wherein said generating is in response to receiving the drag and dropinput of the single segment onto the row or the column of the existingreport.
 11. A method, comprising: providing a user interface forspecifying a report on web site analytics data, wherein the userinterface comprises user interface elements for specifying: one or moredimensions of the web site analytics data; metrics of the web siteanalytics data, the metrics including measurable attributes of visitorinteraction with content of a web site; and one or more segments forfiltering the web site analytics data, the one or more segmentsidentifying a subset of web site visitors having at least one measurableattribute in common; wherein: the user interface allows specificationand movement of metrics and one or more segments in a hierarchy todefine rows and columns of the report for dimensions of the web siteanalytics data; each unique path through the hierarchy defines adifferent row or column value; and the user interface further allows alocation of a segment in the hierarchy to be changed by dragging anddropping the segment into a location within the user interface to modifythe definition of one or more columns or rows; receiving input to theuser interface to create one or more hierarchies of one or more of themetrics and one or more segments to define one or more rows and one ormore columns for the report; and generating the report to comprise theone or more rows and the one or more columns according to the createdone or more hierarchies of the one or more of the metrics and the one ormore segments.
 12. The method of claim 11, comprising: retrieving atleast a portion of the web site analytics data from a server, the atleast a portion being sufficient to generate the report according to thecreated one or more hierarchies of the one or more of the metrics andthe one or more segments.
 13. The method of claim 11, comprising:receiving, via the user interface, input specifying a plurality ofsegments in a same one of the one or more hierarchies such that a row orcolumn in the report is filtered according to the intersection of theplurality of segments.
 14. The method of claim 11, comprising:receiving, via the user interface, input changing the order of at leastone of a dimension, segment, or metric in one of the one or morehierarchies to modify the definitions of at least one row or column inthe report, wherein a value displayed in each cell of the at least onerow or column is dependent on the order of the one or more dimensions,segments, or metrics in the hierarchy.
 15. The method of claim 11,comprising: generating, in response to receiving input via an element ofthe user interface corresponding to a pivot operation, an updatedreport, wherein each row of the updated report is based on acorresponding column of the report, wherein each column of the updatedreport is based on a corresponding row of the report, and wherein theone or more hierarchies describe both the report and the updated report.16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing programinstructions that when executed by a computing device cause thecomputing device to perform operations comprising: providing a userinterface for specifying a report on web site analytics data, whereinthe user interface comprises user interface elements for specifying: oneor more dimensions of the web site analytics data; metrics of the website analytics data, the metrics including measurable attributes ofvisitor interaction with content of a web site; and one or more segmentsfor filtering the web site analytics data, the one or more segmentsidentifying a subset of web site visitors having at least one measurableattribute in common; wherein: the user interface allows specificationand movement of metrics and one or more segments in a hierarchy todefine rows and columns of the report for dimensions of the web siteanalytics data; each unique path through the hierarchy defines adifferent row or column value; and the user interface further allows alocation of a segment in the hierarchy to be changed by dragging anddropping the segment into a location within the user interface to modifythe definition of one or more columns or rows; receive input to the userinterface to create one or more hierarchies of one or more of themetrics and one or more segments to define one or more rows and one ormore columns for the report; and generate the report to comprise the oneor more rows and the one or more columns according to the created one ormore hierarchies of the one or more of the metrics and the one or moresegments.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the program instructions, when executed by thecomputing device, further cause the computing device to performoperations comprising: retrieving at least a portion of the web siteanalytics data from a server sufficient to generate the report accordingto the created one or more hierarchies of the one or more of the metricsand the one or more segments.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the program instructions, whenexecuted by the computing device, further cause the computing device toperform operations comprising: receiving, via the user interface, inputspecifying a plurality of segments in a same one of the one or morehierarchies such that a row or column in the report is filteredaccording to the intersection of the plurality of segments.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein theprogram instructions, when executed by the computing device, furthercause the computing device to perform operations comprising: receiving,via the user interface, input changing the order of at least one of adimension, segment, or metric in one of the one or more hierarchies tomodify the definitions of at least one row or column in the report,wherein a value displayed in each cell of the at least one row or columnis dependent on the order of the one or more dimensions, segments, ormetrics in the hierarchy.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the program instructions, whenexecuted by the computing device, further cause the computing device toperform operations comprising: generating, in response to receivinginput via an element of the user interface corresponding to a pivotoperation, an updated report, wherein: each row of the updated report isbased on a corresponding column of the report, each column of theupdated report is based on a corresponding row of the report, and theone or more hierarchies describe both the report and the updated report.